Change Can Be Good
by HeirToTheShadows
Summary: "Nothing that is can pause or stay; the moon will wax, the moon will wane, the mist and cloud will turn to rain, the rain to mist and cloud again, tomorrow be today." Ever since her first day, Laxus has always been nice to Cana. But as she grows older, her feelings begin to change. Eventual Lemon.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N- This is my first Laxana chapter fic, although it is my fourth Laxana fic at all. I'm planning to update this fic every Sunday.**

**This fic pretty much follows the Fairy Tail timeline, once I get to it. But there are the years before that every Laxus, Cana, or Laxana fan wonders about. This story follows Laxus and Cana's developing relationship through all of it's stages. Strangers, friends, guild mates, enemies, friends again, guild mates again, and finally lovers (lol, that's what my grandmother calls it!).**

**Disclaimer- I don't own Fairy Tail or any of its characters. All I own is the idea for this fic.**

**I also don't own the quote in my summary. That quote is by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.**

Cana stood outside the doors of Fairy Tail, silent, shocked tears streaming down her young face. ~He… He didn't… recognize… me…? But… but Mommy said… that he's my Daddy… How could he not recognize me…? Mommy… I'm scared. What's gonna happen to me…?~

"Hey, Gildartz, you forgot- who are you?" a voice asked from above her.

Cana looked up to see a boy slightly older then her. He had spiky blonde hair, and blue-gray eyes, across one of which he had a lightning shaped scar. He wore a baggy green t-shirt over a black long-sleeved shirt. Headphones covered his ears, and he had a confused look on his face.

She wiped the tears from her eyes, hiccupping as she tried to calm down, "C-Cana."

The boy looked confused, "What are you doing here?"

She hiccupped again, still trying to stop crying, "M-Mommy sent me here to find D-Daddy."

He crouched in front of her, concern on his face, "Cana, everyone here is a member of the guild, and none of the guild members have children."

Cana, who had finally gotten her tears under control, started crying again, "B-B-But, Mommy said D-D-Daddy was a F-F-Fairy Tail M-Mage."

Gently, he wiped the tears from her cheeks, "Did she say who he was?" Cana nodded.

"Mommy said that Daddy's name was Gildartz Clive. Mommy used to have a picture of Daddy," Cana rummaged in the bag hung on her back, pulling out the picture and handing it to the boy, "See?"

The picture showed a beautiful young woman, around her early twenties, with waist-length, dark brown, wavy hair. She had large, beautiful violet eyes, and a self-assured smile on her face. She was wearing a plain green dress, and in her hands she held a bouquet of flowers. Standing in front of her was a man with slicked back orange hair and dark brown eyes. He was entirely clean-shaven, and also appeared to be in his early twenties. A faint blush was on his cheeks as he stared at the woman in front of him. Between the two people, yet slightly behind them, was what was obviously a minister.

"Mommy said it was the picture of their wedding," Cana said, looking up at the boy.

He looked at her in shock, "I didn't know Gildartz was married."

Another unfamiliar voice echoed through the doors as another man walked out, "Laxus, did you catch up with Gildartz and give him his- who's this?"

Laxus looked up, "This is Cana. Cana, this is Wakaba. I have to go now, but he'll take care of you until I get back, okay."

Cana nodded slowly, and watched as Laxus ran off to catch Gildartz, something small in his hands. She looked up at Wakaba, "H-Hello."

Wakaba smiled, "Hello. Would you like to come inside for some juice?"

Cana nodded again, holding out her hand. Wakaba stared at her, confused, and took her hand, as if not sure why he was doing this. They walked inside, until they got to an empty table, where Wakaba sat her down, "I'll be right back with your juice. Don't go running off, okay?"

"Okay," Cana said, looking around. Fairy Tail was it's usual self, but it confused her, ~Mommy said that Fairy Tail was a place for working. Why is everyone playing? It's so noisy… it hurts my head…~

Wakaba sat back down, handing her a small glass, "Here's your juice."

They sat there for a few minutes, and Wakaba's expression grew more and more uncomfortable every second that passed. "So, Cana, what are you doing here?"

Cana opened her mouth to reply, but heard Laxus's voice instead, "She wants to meet Gildartz. Apparently her mother knew him."

Wakaba rolled his eyes, mumbling, "Who doesn't?"

Laxus sat down next to Cana, "I'll take care of her. You go on."

Wakaba stood with relieved haste, calling as he made his escape, "If your sure…"

Laxus looked at her, "It's probably best if you don't tell anyone that he's your father. I doubt anyone would believe you."

Cana stared at him, tugging on his shirt, "You believe me, right, Laxus?"

Laxus nodded, "Of course I believe you. But everyone else is a grown-up, and they never believe anything they can't see for themselves."

Cana nodded in agreement before cocking her head, "How old are you, Laxus?"

"I'm eleven," Laxus said, puffing himself up with pride.

"I'm six," Cana said, faint jealousy apparent in her voice.

Laxus rumpled her hair, "Don't worry, you'll be eleven eventually. I should probably take you to meet Gramps."

Cana looked at him in confusion, "Who's Gramps?"

Laxus stood, grabbing her hand, "Gramps is the Master of Fairy Tail."

"Why do you call him 'Gramps' though?" Cana asked, walking next to him.

He looked at her like she was crazy, "Well, duh. Because he's my grandfather."

Cana gasped in excited shock, "You're grandfather is the Master of Fairy Tail?"

Laxus looked sad for a moment, "Yeah. It's not as fun as it sounds, you know."

Cana nodded, "Does that mean that you're going to be the Master one day?"

Laxus shrugged, "I don't know. It depends on who Gramps chooses to be his 'successor'."

Cana tugged on his hand until he looked over at her; she smiled, "You're nice. I think you would make a good Master."

Laxus blushed, "Well, we'll see, Cana."

They finished crossing the room until they got to the bar, where a little old man was sitting.

"Gramps!" Laxus called out.

The old man turned to look at them, "Yes, Laxus? Who's this?"

Laxus introduced them, "Gramps, this is Cana. Cana, this is my grandfather."

The old man hopped down off the bar, "Well, hello there, little one. What are you doing here."

Cana looked at Laxus, hiding behind his leg. Laxus sighed, "She wants to meet Gildartz."

The Master walked over to her, "Where's your mother and father, little Cana?"

Cana looked down, "Mommy died. She said the my Daddy was here."

The Master looked confused, "Who's your daddy?"

"Gildartz," Laxus answered for her.

The Master's eyebrows introduced themselves to his receding hairline, "Really?"

Cana nodded nervously.

"Does he know?" the Master asked.

Cana shook her head.

"What are you going to do?" the old man asked.

Cana shrugged.

"She could stay here until he gets back," Laxus suggested, "I don't think she has anywhere else to go, Gramps."

The Master looked at her, sympathetic concern on his face, "Is Laxus right?"

Looking down, Cana nodded.

The Master smiled a faintly sad, but mostly happy smile, "Then you can stay here. Welcome to your new home, Cana!"

Cana looked at Laxus, squeezing his hand. He looked over at her, crouching down when she tugged on his hand.

She gave him a smile, and hugged him, muttering into his chest, "Thank you, Laxus."


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N- I'm so sorry that I haven't updated in so long. I went through some really bad depression. It was so bad that I couldn't even stand to think about anything in a romantic way, and all of my fics were at a slightly romantic stage. I wrote a oneshot that sort of helped, called Tears of an Angel if you want to read it, but eventually, I went and saw a doctor. I'm pretty fine now, but with all the things I have now on my real life schedule, I had to change my Update Schedule. Stories now get updated bi-weekly, and on the same day every time. So, this story won't be updated until the Friday after next. Enjoy the chapter! I want to thank everyone that encouraged me to continue this story.**

**I took some liberties with a certain Miss Cornelia Alberona in this chapter. This is seriously how I think it went down. We are never told if Cornelia is a mage, and we're never told how she dies. It may just be because Mashima-sensei is lazy, but he may have something in store for us. But for now, this is what I believe happened.**

**Disclaimer- I don't own Fairy Tail or any of its characters. They belong to Hiro Mashima.**

**I don't own the lyrics used in this chapter. They belong to my favorite artist Porcelain Black. The song is 'This Is What Rock 'n' Roll Looks Like' featuring Lil Wayne. **

**Cana** sat at the table with Laxus, another glass of juice in her hands. She had been getting very tired for the last hour or so, as it was far past her bedtime, but she couldn't sleep here. It was way too loud. Never the less, she kept feeling herself nod off before jerking awake.

Laxus looked over at her, concern coloring his eyes, "Are you tired?"

Cana nodded with a yawn, "Uh huh."

Laxus gave a half-smile before taking off his headphones, "Here. Listen to this. I have to go talk to Gramps and see where you're supposed to sleep."

With an exhausted smile, Cana grabbed the huge headphones and hit the play button. Laxus, just before he had handed them to her, had apparently restarted the song he was listening to.

_**Hey, hey, hey, if you're ready to rage, raise your hands up, this what rock 'n' roll looks like. Hey, hey, hey, wearing leather and lace, raise your hands up, this what rock 'n' roll looks like.**_

_**Um, microphone check, one two. Yeah, yeah, this is Porcelain, baby, and this what rock 'n' roll looks like.**_

Cana felt her eyes getting even heavier, and gave up the fight to keep her head up. Gently, she rested it upon the table.

_**The dark days falling down on my stand, I feel the thirst to get it in. Trouble, trouble, drink it down, like a king I take the crown. Flush away the pain till my expense, cause we're the kids that belong to the night. We're gonna get this, we're gonna start a fight.**_

_**Hey, hey, hey, if you're ready to rage, raise your…**_

Cana's eyes drifted closed, and she fell asleep with a smile on her face…

**Laxus **walked back towards the table, an annoyed scowl on his face. ~Oh thanks, Gramps, that was entirely helpful. 'Oh, Laxus. You're a big boy. I'm sure you'll find something to do with her.' Like what? Bring her back to the dorm and put her in my room?~

He arrived at the table to find little Cana there, fast asleep, with a smile on her face. Unconsciously, he felt an answering smile grow on his. ~Alright, one night with her sleeping in my room won't be that bad…~

With gentleness he didn't know he possessed, he picked up Cana to carry the sleeping girl back to the mixed dorm, where he lived. Currently, he was the only one who lived there.

As he started walking, causing a gentle rocking motion, little Cana nestled closer to his chest, with a sigh of what was obviously happiness.

Laxus a little smile grow on his face, as he felt an unexpected surge of tenderness for the little girl. She was just so… small. Tiny. Cute. And she needed him.

_**Cana** was sitting on the picnic blanket across from her mother, staring at the cards her mom had just lain out._

"_So, Cana. What does it mean?" Cornelia asked her, a smirk on her lips, and her hands over her eyes. Her mother wore a dark blue tank top that clung to her like a second skin, short black shorts, and white sneakers. Her long hair was pulled into a high ponytail to keep it off of her neck and back._

_Cana was wearing a light and airy white dress, and was going barefoot. Both had abandoned most of their clothes with the heat wave, and after Cana crying and whining about it for weeks on end, her mother had finally agreed to cut her hair short enough that it didn't even touch her shoulders._

_Cana continued to stare at the cards, slowly puzzling out their meaning. This card meant death, while the card touching it meant eternal youth. One card meant love, and touching it were three cards, one of a baby with brown hair, another of an orange-haired man, and the last one of a tear. The card that represented sadness. The last card, which was in the position of the most importance, showed a woman with a look of excruciating agony on her face, throwing cards. _

"_So?" her mother asked again, still not looking at the cards._

_Hesitantly, Cana answered with what she thought the cards said, "The death card is touching the card of eternal youth, which means that the person will die young. The heart card is touching a card of a baby, a man, and the tear. Which means that this person loves their child and a man, but both will bring them sadness. But Mommy, I don't know what the last one means. It's a woman throwing cards."_

_Cornelia's hands fell from her face with a speed that shocked Cana, and she crawled over to look at the cards said, "Let me see."_

_Cornelia sat there with a blank expression on her face, until Cana tugged on her tank top, "Mommy, what does that card mean?"_

_Cornelia turned to Cana with a smile, but in her eyes, there were tears, "Oh, it doesn't mean anything important. I'll teach you that card later, alright?"_

_Not sure why her mother didn't tell her what the card meant, Cana nodded. Cornelia smiled, "I think that's enough lessons for today, sweetie. Do you still want me to tell you about your father?"_

_Excited, Cana nodded, "You're really going to tell me about him! You never would before."_

_Cornelia smiled, "You're old enough now. Besides, I think you're going to need the information all too soon."_

_**Cana** screamed in agony as she was literally thrown across the valley and hit the stone wall, hard. _

"_CANA!" Cornelia screamed, tied up and unable to move._

_The men who had ambushed them laughed, before the leader crouched in front of Cornelia, "Look at this. Little Cornelia Alberona unable to help her precious little daughter. Maybe you should have given us what we wanted. You gave it to some other man. Why not us?"_

_Cornelia spat in his face before replying, "What I did with Gildartz, I did out of love. I could no more give that to you then I could sit here and let Cana die."_

_The leader wiped the spit off of his face before cocking his head, "Good idea, Little Cornelia. That's what we'll do with your little girl. We'll kill her."_

_Cana scrunched up her eyes as the men advanced towards her. She could feel the men within touching distance when her mother called in a voice she had never heard, **"If I were you, I wouldn't touch her."**_

_Cana and the men looked toward Cornelia. Her hair blew in a wind created by the intense levels of magic power radiating off of her _(think Lucy from the Loke arc in season one). _But the part that scared Cana a little bit was the fact that the fun loving, adoring, and caring mother was gone. All that was left was a… monster, ready to kill. Her eyes showed only the whites, the pupil and iris completely gone._

_Cornelia turned to Cana, staring at her with her scary eyes, **"Cana, hand me the cards, and then stay behind me."**_

_Something in her tone made Cana do exactly as she had said. The men who had ambushed them were still unsure what they should do._

_Once Cana was far enough behind her, Cornelia turned back to the men with an evil grin, __**"You don't understand the bonds between a mother and child, do you? Of course you don't, or you **_**never **_**would have threatened her."**_

_Cana could no longer see the men's expressions, but something happened, the men screamed in terror, and there was a blinding flash of light._

_**Cana **opened her eyes, agony searing at every muscle, but she knew that the horrible flash had come from her mother, and that she needed to check if she was okay. She looked around until she spotted the nearly still form of her mother, and crawled over to it._

"_Mommy?" Cana asked once she got there, tears in her eyes when she saw the blood pooling around her, and the look of pure agony on her face._

"_Cana…" her mother said with a smile, "I'm glad you're okay."_

"_Mommy, I don't know what to do. You can't die. You have to come with me," Cana said, tears running down her young face._

_Cornelia looked at her, placing her hand on Cana's cheek, "I can't, sweetie. But once you get to Fairy Tail, your Daddy will take care of you. You can make it. I know you can."_

_Cana sobbed, and grabbed her mother's hand, "Mommy…you were the one with the cards I read, weren't you?"_

_Cornelia smiled, "Very good, sweetie. So smart. You got that from your father, you know? I love you."_

"_NO! Mommy, you can't leave me!" Cana screamed as her mother's hand slipped from her own, "MOMMY!"_

**Cana** shot up in bed in a burst of tears, screams, and flailing limbs. "MOMMY!"

"Cana!? Cana!? Listen to me, you're here! You're safe!" Laxus said, shooting up too, and holding her to his chest to sob, "I've got you."

Cana sobbed into his chest, "Mommy, Mommy, Mommy. It hurts, it hurts, it hurts."

Even though he knew that Cana would remember none of what he said in the morning, he mumbled into her hair, "Don't worry, Cana. I'll never let you get hurt again. Never."


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N 1- Sorry, this was supposed to be out on Friday… I'm a failure…**

**Anyway, enjoy the chapter! See you all next Friday!**

**Disclaimer- I'm not Hiro Mashima, and probably never will be. (Lol, probably. Just let that sink in there…)**

**Cana **was sitting at her and Laxus's table at the guild. It had been nearly two years since her first day here, and she still slept in Laxus's room. It was because she woke up screaming every single night due to nightmares about her mother's death. She had told Laxus what her nightmares were about the very first night she had had one, and, somehow, Laxus had understood.

Laxus and Cana went to the guild every day. Most of her time was spent sitting at her and Laxus's table, playing cards, typically solitaire. Sometimes she would play mahjong, or could convince someone to play a different game with her - typically Reedus - but mostly, she just sat there. Laxus didn't play with her because he was typically gone during the day. He was allowed to take requests within or near the city, but he had to be back before midnight, when the guild closed for the night.

So, mostly, Cana sat around playing cards and listening to music with Laxus's lacrima player and sound pods, since he typically left them with her. The fact that Laxus let her use his lacrima player and sound pods shocked most of the other members of the guild, since, according to everyone else, Laxus didn't let anyone touch them.

As Cana, once again, had no more moves and lost her game, she sighed and reshuffled, looking out the window sadly. She was bored.

She saw through the window when a young black-haired boy arrived and opened the door.

The boy looked about her age, so he would be around seven or eight. He had spiky black hair that hung over his dark brown eyes. He wore a white fur-lined jacket, a pale shirt, and dark pants. A backpack hung from his shoulders, and he looked exhausted.

The little boy looked around and walked straight up to Master Makarov, "Are you the Master here?"

"Yes, I am," the Master replied, "What can I help you with?"

"If you're the Master, then you are a powerful mage, right?" the little boy asked.

Makarov puffed with pride, "Why yes. In fact, I'm one of the Ten Great Wizard Saints."

Cana blinked, ~I didn't know that about the Master...~

"Can you tell me how to melt Iced Shell?" the boy asked, passion in his eyes, "I want my Master back."

"There's one wa- no, that's not a good idea," Master said, "I'm sorry, kid."

The kid looked crestfallen, "Thanks anyway."

The little boy started walking out of the guild, a look of depression on his face.

"Hey," Cana called out to the boy, trying to cheer him up, "Want to play a game of cards?"

"I guess so," the boy said, walking over to her table, "What are we going to play?"

As the boy sat down, she started dealing, "Have you ever played War?"

The boy shook his head, and Cana quickly explained the rules, "Each of us starts with half of the deck. The goal is to get the whole deck. After I deal, we each pick up our cards without looking at them and play the top one. If my card his higher, I collect them and put then in a stack to the side. If your card is higher, you collect them. If we both play the same number, we go to war. We each pull the three cards off the top and choose one to play. Wars go on until one of us plays a card higher then the other person. Then that person collects all the cards in the center."

The little boy slowly straightened his cards, "That sounds fun, I guess."

The game went on and on, like Cana had known it would at the beginning. Games of War always took hours to play.

Eventually, however, the game pulled to a close when Cana played an ace, and the little boy, who had told her that his name was Gray, had played a ten.

"I win!" Cana gasped in excitement.

The little boy sighed, "Yeah, you do."

Cana looked up Gray, "You did – Gray, you're clothes are off again."

Gray looked down at himself, "Ah! You're right!"

He quickly collected his clothes, muttering, "Stupid Ul, giving me that dumb habit."

"Who's Ul?" Cana asked instantaneously. She couldn't help herself, he had been muttering about her all day.

Gray looked at Cana in shock, "H-How do you know that name?"

She rolled her eyes, "You've only been whispering it all day. 'Ul' this and 'Ul' that. So who are they?"

Gray looked down at his freshly clothed self, "Ul was my Master… She… she died."

"Oh," Cana said sympathetically, "I'm sorry. My mom died a couple years ago."

Gray looked into her eyes, "I'm sorry, Cana."

Cana smiled at him, instinctively hiding the broken side of herself that only Laxus knew was there, "It's fine. It was a long time ago."

**Laxus** entered the guild hall, looking around for Cana. He was exhausted, and the thirteen year old just wanted to get her and go home to sleep. It was almost midnight, so she would be willing.

When Laxus finally spotted her, she was sitting at _their _table, with some other kid. Cana had brought someone else to their table.

_Cana had brought someone else to their table._

Laxus felt jealousy start tearing up his gut, but he had no idea why. She was Cana. Sure, they were best friends, but Cana was allowed to have other friends. Maybe it was because this boy was a boy Laxus had never met before, and he didn't know if the dark haired boy was safe. What if the kid hurt Cana?

~Jeez, overprotective much?~ Laxus asked himself, still unsure of why he was reacting this way. It didn't make any sense.

Finally, Cana looked up at him, and her face broke into a huge smile. "Laxus!" she screamed, running for him. She took her usual running leap for his arms, and, like always, he caught her.

"You know, one day I'm just not going to catch you," Laxus half-threatened, half-admonished.

Cana giggled at him, "Yeah, right. You would never let me get hurt."

Laxus laughed, too, "Yup, you're probably right."

Now that Laxus had Cana in his arms, he didn't feel jealous anymore. In fact he was feeling quite good about the –

"Cana, who is this?" an unfamiliar voice asked.

Laxus looked down at the little kid who had been sitting with Cana, jealousy returning full force. His jealousy reached an all consuming fire when Cana slipped from his arms and grabbed the little boy's hand, "This is Laxus. I told you about him earlier."

"Hi," the boy said.

"Hi," Laxus replied, voice most likely too gruff, but he couldn't bring himself to care, "Cana, we should be getting home."

"Okay!" Cana cheered. She ran back to the table and grabbed her cards and Laxus's sound pods and his lacrima player, "But Gray will have to follow us, because he decided that he's going to join the guild when he grows up, too, and so Master said he had to stay at the mixed dorm with us."

"Well, he's not staying in my room," Laxus said.

Gray looked at him like he was crazy, "Why would I want to sleep in your room?"

"That's where I sleep!" Cana said, obliviously.

The little boy looked between Cana and Laxus, understanding coming to his eyes, "Oh."

~WHAT THE FUCK, YOU LITTLE BRAT! WHAT WAS THAT 'OH' ABOUT!?~ Laxus screamed in his head.

**A/N 2- Gray knows how Laxus feels, all the adults most likely know how Laxus feels, only Laxus himself is still confused.**

**Wow, Laxus, wow. A _seven year old _knows how you feel, and you don't…. Just wow…**


	4. Happy New Year

Hey!

So, my Great Month Of Stories didn't exactly work out. But it's all knowledge for next time! If I do a next time...

Anyway, I just want to take the time to say some things to you guys. You guys are awesome. You have made my life and year beautiful and exciting. You inspired me and showed me my limits.

When I used to wake up in the morning, I didn't really look forward to much, but now I look forward to a day of emails and PMs and reviews. I look forward to talking to you guys and ranting with you guys and making fake plans to go punch Hiro Mashima in the face for doing this to us.

You guys make my days. And every time I get an email saying someone favorited one of my stories, I get this big goofy grin on my face.

You guys really mean a lot to me. You encourage and inspire me to keep writing and to keep going. You guys have taught me so much. And I sincerely love each and every one of you. Even the lurkers that never review.

To date, I've published 132,401 words in 21 stories, and received a total of 341 reviews. I've only been a member since June (has it truly been that long?), but I know I love it here.

You guys are truly my nakama, and that's how I think of you all. You guys are really amazing, and I love you all.

Lets hope for another amazing year.

My New Year's resolution was to have published 350,000 words by the end of 2013. So that means I have to publish 217,599 words this year. Lets see how I do!

I hope you all had an awesome holiday season and continue having a great year!

My holiday themed oneshots will be out in the next couple of days, although the chapters for already published stories will just have to wait since school is back in session on the third.

I love you all!

No matter how far away you are... no matter how many miles lay between us... I'll always be watching over you. Index fingers up, my sweet nakama!

~HeirToTheShadows


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